Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for the imaging scanning of a female breast in the context of digital projective mammography or tomosynthesis and to an x-ray mammography system for the imaging scanning of a female breast in the context of digital projective mammography or tomosynthesis. Furthermore, the invention also relates to an x-ray detector containing a pixilated scanning structure.
It is generally known, in the context of digital mammography methods and tomosynthesis methods, both to provide support by contrast agents during the imaging and to use dual energy scanning in these methods, in order to obtain an improved imaging.
In contrast enhanced dual energy tomosynthesis of the Mamma (CEDET), typically after prior contrast agent injection a low-energy scan and a high-energy scan are in each case carried out while maintaining the breast compression. Analogously, a pair of high-energy and low-energy recordings is created for contrast enhanced dual energy mammography (CEDEM). The different x-ray energy spectra used here are attained by different filtering and/or different acceleration voltages. Correspondingly, between two recordings the x-ray filter is changed and/or the acceleration voltage of the x-ray tube is changed.
For such applications, use is usually made of flat detectors operating either as direct converters (x-ray-electrons/holes) or as indirect converters (x-ray-light-electrons).
The problem of such methods and devices is that generating separate high-energy and low-energy recordings costs time in which:    a) the patient moves, for example on account of his/her respiration;    b) the contrast agent moves or its concentration and distribution change;    c) the application possibly has to be restricted to specific views, such as, for example, CC (=cranio caudal) or MLO (=medio lateral oblique), of a breast since the washout phase of the contrast agent is advanced; and    d) doubled volumes of data have to be managed, particularly in the case of tomosynthesis, which is more data intensive.